pgsql-server/contrib/tablefunc README.tablefun ...

CVSROOT: /cvsroot
Module name: pgsql-server
Changes by: momjian(at)postgresql(dot)org 03/03/20 01:46:30

Modified files:
contrib/tablefunc: README.tablefunc tablefunc.c tablefunc.h
tablefunc.sql.in
contrib/tablefunc/expected: tablefunc.out
contrib/tablefunc/sql: tablefunc.sql

Log message:
Attached is an update to contrib/tablefunc. It implements a new hashed
version of crosstab. This fixes a major deficiency in real-world use of
the original version. Easiest to undestand with an illustration:

Data:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
select * from cth;
id | rowid | rowdt | attribute | val
----+-------+---------------------+----------------+---------------
1 | test1 | 2003-03-01 00:00:00 | temperature | 42
2 | test1 | 2003-03-01 00:00:00 | test_result | PASS
3 | test1 | 2003-03-01 00:00:00 | volts | 2.6987
4 | test2 | 2003-03-02 00:00:00 | temperature | 53
5 | test2 | 2003-03-02 00:00:00 | test_result | FAIL
6 | test2 | 2003-03-02 00:00:00 | test_startdate | 01 March 2003
7 | test2 | 2003-03-02 00:00:00 | volts | 3.1234
(7 rows)

Original crosstab:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SELECT * FROM crosstab(
'SELECT rowid, attribute, val FROM cth ORDER BY 1,2',4)
AS c(rowid text, temperature text, test_result text, test_startdate
text, volts text);
rowid | temperature | test_result | test_startdate | volts
-------+-------------+-------------+----------------+--------
test1 | 42 | PASS | 2.6987 |
test2 | 53 | FAIL | 01 March 2003 | 3.1234
(2 rows)

Hashed crosstab:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SELECT * FROM crosstab(
'SELECT rowid, attribute, val FROM cth ORDER BY 1',
'SELECT DISTINCT attribute FROM cth ORDER BY 1')
AS c(rowid text, temperature int4, test_result text, test_startdate
timestamp, volts float8);
rowid | temperature | test_result | test_startdate | volts
-------+-------------+-------------+---------------------+--------
test1 | 42 | PASS | | 2.6987
test2 | 53 | FAIL | 2003-03-01 00:00:00 | 3.1234
(2 rows)

Notice that the original crosstab slides data over to the left in the
result tuple when it encounters missing data. In order to work around
this you have to be make your source sql do all sorts of contortions
(cartesian join of distinct rowid with distinct attribute; left join
that back to the real source data). The new version avoids this by
building a hash table using a second distinct attribute query.

The new version also allows for "extra" columns (see the README) and
allows the result columns to be coerced into differing datatypes if they
are suitable (as shown above).

In testing a "real-world" data set (69 distinct rowid's, 27 distinct
categories/attributes, multiple missing data points) I saw about a
5-fold improvement in execution time (from about 2200 ms old, to 440 ms
new).

I left the original version intact because: 1) BC, 2) it is probably
slightly faster if you know that you have no missing attributes.

README and regression test adjustments included. If there are no
objections, please apply.

Joe Conway